1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to various methods and apparatuses for printing three-dimensional objects in three-dimensional printers using three-dimensional mathematical/numerical representations of the three-dimensional objects.
2. Description of the Related Technology
Presently, three-dimensional (3D) printers are available to consumers. For instance, Automated Creation Technology sells models such as the Fab@Home 3D Production Platform. These 3D printers “print” 3D objects by spraying paper particles to form a 3D shape, curing it by heat and then coloring the surface of the cured printed object. Such 3D printers receive a 3D model (i.e., a mathematical and/or numerical representation of a 3D object) and print the object being represented by the received 3D model.
An example of 3D printing is described in “A Whole New Dimension,” Alun Anderson from The World 2008 and “How 3-D Printing Figures To Turn Web Worlds Real,” Robert Guth, Wall Street Journal, Dec. 12, 2007, Page B1.
However, the generation of 3D models is a rather cumbersome technology that does not allow 3D models to be readily generated. Typically, the generation of 3D models would require highly sophisticated users and/or stereographic machines. Moreover, most 3D representations do not represent an item in action or posed containing background attributes found in either a fictional or non-fictional setting. In other words, for a wider use of 3D printers, techniques to generate easily 3D models are desired.
An example for generating a 3D model is described in the following reference, “Computational Geometry for Design and Mfg,” Faux, I. D., Pratt, M. J., 1979 and “Fundamentals of Interactive Computer Graphics,” Foley J., vanDam, A., 1982.